Always Missed
by LIFE the RANGER
Summary: Nico loved being a big brother to Hazel. She was everything. But one day changes his young life forever. My account of a real life story. RIP Hazel and Kuper.


This whole thing is in a sort of memory to my little cousin Kuper. He is not with us anymore. You will always be missed little one. I never know how else to go about expressing my feelings, so this is the best I can come up with. I hope you all like it and may Kuper rest in peace.

…

"Mommy, mommy!" Hazel said, bouncing in her car seat. Areas around New York were having garage sales, so Nico and Hazel's mom decided to take her eight year old son and her newly turned five daughter to them. Nico, stoic as ever, just rolled his eyes at his little sister's antics. But he smiled a little. Hazel just had that ability on people. No matter how bad a day you were having, she would smile at you and everything would be alright again. Hazel hugged her ratty teddy bear to her chest, stroking his non-existent fuzz. Nico had "bought" if for her when she was just a newborn, and it was her favorite thing in the whole world. She also had the new Barbie doll she got for her birthday last Monday in the car seat with her. "Mommy, mommy, are we going to another one?" Hazel questioned her mother. Nico chuckled and crossed his arms in front of his chest, slouching in his seat.

"Of course sweetie," their mother said, smiling into the rearview mirror, where she could see her little babies. They'd already been to a few that day, and she was excited to show her kids the finer points of garage sailing. She pulled into the long driveway of a house with an open garage and tables on the lawn. Nico unbuckled his own seat belt and then did his sister's, helping her out his side. He took her hand and led her up to the garage. She clutched her bear in the other hand. "Look Hazel," their mother said, and Hazel swung her wide brown eyes on their mom. "A bike," she continued, gesturing to a little princess bike with the training wheels still attached.

"Woah!" Hazel exclaimed, abandoning Nico and running over to the bike. "Look mommy, it's just my size!" the little girl exclaimed. Nico chuckled and wandered over to her, examining the bike.

"It is Hazel," he said with a smile, taking her hand again. "Mom, it's only ten bucks. See." He jabbed his finger at a little pink sticker with a ten written on it. "I think we should get it for Hazzie." Hazel giggled as Nico used her nickname. He'd dubbed her with it when she was a year old, and called her it every day afterward. She smiled at her children. Right from the start, Nico enjoyed being an older brother. He was fiercely protective of little Hazel, and always would be. Right now, he was busy showing Hazel how to work a DS that just happened to be on sale. As she passed them, she looked at the price. Twenty dollars. That wasn't so bad for a 3DS.

"The bike and the DS," she said, laying thirty dollars on the little table. The lady behind the table smiled up at her and took the money, putting in in the tackle box. "Nico, we're bringing that home with us." Nico cheered and stuffed the DS in his sweater pocket. Hazel stuck her lower lip out in a pout. "Hazel, mommy bought you something too," she said, smiling as her children followed her back to the bike.

"Yay!" Hazel cried, handing her teddy to Nico and hopping on the bike. She pedaled around the driveway for awhile, and both Nico and his mom shared an amused look. Hazel wished so bad she'd gotten a bike for her birthday, but her mother couldn't afford a brand new one. This was a late birthday present, if you will. "Let's go mommy, let's go bubby!" she said, racing off with the bike. Nico followed her quickly and Hazel's mom brought up the rear. Hazel stopped beside the car and dismounted, taking her teddy back from her brother. Nico opened his door and helped her inside, buckling her into her car seat. He strapped himself in and pulled the 3DS out of his pocket. There was Mario Cart in the DS and he was determined to play it without Hazel trying to take it away. Their mom climbed in behind the wheel and stared at her children in the rearview mirror. Hazel was making her Barbie talk to her bear, and Nico was hunched over his new electronic.

"Look Hazel," he said, showing her the blinking screen. "I won!" Hazel clapped and laughed and their mom had to smile. She hoped her kids would always be this close. She pulled out of the driveway and went down the street, spying another sign with yet another garage sale. She turned the corner and stopped at the curb. She accidently knocked her purse down onto the floor, spilling the contents. Swearing under her breath, she bent across the seats to retrieve her things.

She never caught what happened next. It was only after Nico screamed that she was aware of anything. Unknown to both Nico and his mother, Hazel had gotten herself unbuckled and wrestled her door open. She climbed out and was busy playing in the street with her teddy and doll. At that exact moment, a car whipped around the corner. The driver was on his phone, unaware of the child in the street. Nico looked up, blinked in surprise at Hazel's empty seat, and widened his eyes when he saw the car approaching.

"Hazel no!" he yelled. His mom whipped up from what she was doing and stared in horror as the car ran over her daughter, twice. Nico emitted an inhuman scream and tumbled out of the car, hugging his sister's limp body to his chest. Their mother closed her eyes. Already, she knew it was too late. Hazel was gone. "Hazel wake up!" Nico sobbed. "Wake up for bubby! Wake up for me!" His mother climbed out of the car and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her teary-eyed. "Mommy, she won't wake up," he told her. "Wake her up." Her heart tore out of her chest as she took her daughter's body from her son.

"I'm sorry sweetie," she said. "Hazel's not alive now. She's gone." Nico buried his face in her side and bawled until the paramedics came and escorted them to the hospital. And to think, he thought bitterly. Hazel finally got the present she wanted. Now she'd never get to use it.

…

~Ten Years Later~

…

Nico felt the pain of Hazel's absence every day, especially on a day like today. It was exactly ten years since the accident that took his sister away from him. He still remembered it with ringing clarity. The thump the car tires made as they ran over her. The sound of his sobs as he held his sister's dead body one last time. The wailing of the sirens as they took his family to the hospital and sedated them so they could sleep fitfully. The tears and the heartache as they lowered the tiny casket into the ground. Hazel was gone way too soon.

Graduation was right around the corner, but he couldn't enjoy it. Hazel should've been there to see him get his diploma. She should've danced around him and made fun of him for wearing a "dress." She should've tried to steal his cap and run off with it, then he'd chase her down. He would be mad, but at the end of the day he loved her so much. He still did. From what little time he had with her, he'd loved her like any brother would. He made sure she was safe. But that last moment he failed her. He failed as a brother. He didn't keep her safe in her last moments of life. After that, he refused to play with that accursed DS and wanted nothing to do with it. Or the bike. Every time he saw the bike he'd burst into tears.

Nico slowly made his way up to his attic, sitting amongst the boxes and that awful bike. Over the years, it had acquired quite the collection of dust. He rubbed the seat down with a towel and stared in dismay at the pink circle with a faded ten. He pulled the closet box to himself and opened it, removing the few things he had left of Hazel. A couple of clothing items, a photo album, and her teddy bear he'd gotten her when she was born. He took the bear out of the box and hugged it to his chest, as he did every year on the anniversary of her death.

"Miss you baby sis," he whispered to the bear, setting it aside. He gingerly picked up the photo album and flipped through it. It was Hazel's five years of life, right up to her fifth birthday. That one showed her proudly holding up her Barbie (also in the box) and smiling at the camera, revealing the gap in her teeth. The tooth fairy came that night. Hazel got a dollar, which she used to buy candy for herself and her "bubby." Nico flipped to his favorite photo, fingering the yellowing edges. It was the day his mom brought Hazel home from the hospital. He was sitting on the couch with a tiny Hazel placed in his arms. Somehow, his mom had taken the photo right as he was kissing her forehead. Chuckling sadly, he set the photo album aside and looked at her clothes. The dress she wore to her preschool graduation. The onesie and hat she came home from the hospital in. The shirt and pants she wore at her fifth birthday party.

"Whatcha doing Nico?" his mom asked quietly. Nico looked up and found her standing at the edge of the stares, smiling sadly at him. "Looking through Hazel's stuff?" She sat down beside him and took the photo album, flipping to the first page. "You always loved your baby sister. You never let anything harm her."

"In those final moments, I did," Nico said bitterly. "I let her down in the end." His mom reached out and lightly touched his arm.

"There was nothing you could've done," she said softly. Nico felt the familiar lump in his throat as she spoke, because he knew she was right. That still didn't stop him from wishing it would've been him instead of her. Hazel had a bright future ahead of her, cut tragically short. But she would always be missed.

"I have something I want to add," Nico said hoarsely, showing his mom a framed picture. But it wasn't a picture. It was a piece of paper with six simple words on it. A six word memoir. He wrote it in English class, and not only did he get an A on it, he was asked to read it for the whole school. There wasn't one dry eye when he did. His mother took the frame from him, peering down at it.

"Hazel," she read. Nico nodded. That was the title. "Five Monday. Never will be six." She paused. "Oh Nico." She crushed her son to herself, feeling the tears he was shedding soak into her shirt. "Nico, it's so… beautiful." She placed it in the box, which together, they shut. Next year, and the year after that, and every year after that, they could read the story about the girl whose life was cut tragically short. But she would always be missed. And always be loved. As he left the attic, Nico turned, and he swore he could see little Hazel sitting on her bike, holding her teddy bear and smiling at him, waiting for him to join her. But when he blinked, she was gone.

…

May you rest in peace Kuper. Just like Hazel, you'll always be missed.


End file.
